The National Treasury Secretariat consolidates the information by comparing the flow of revenues against expenditures, in a methodology known as "above the line". Above the line statistics allow the public manager to evaluate the results of the current fiscal policy by means of a detailed and ample Picture of the country's fiscal situation. This set of information constitutes an essential toolkit for public policy decision making.

This evaluation also enables the construction of different scenarios for the public accounts based on previsions of revenues and expenditures estimated using macroeconomic parameters. It also becomes an important tool during public budgeting or during its execution.

In Brazil, the primary balance used to verify the fiscal targets established by the Annual Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) derives from the methodology known as "below the line", consolidated and released by the Central Bank of Brazil although the analysis of the origins of any discrepancy is made by evaluating the revenues and expenditures, which are compiled using the "above the line" methodology.

The "below the line" statistics considers changes in public debt stock, including sources of foreign and domestic financing and are published, monthly, by the Central Bank in a specific report whithin its webpage.

While "below the line" statistics allows one to analyse how the government has financed its debt, the "above the line" analysis allows one to evaluate the causes of unbalances and other qualitative information pertaining to the fiscal policy. The result obtained by both methodologies is comparable, which make them both important and complementary methodologies for the good management of the fiscal policy./documents/10180/315041/NimDec2016_english.pdf/91da5768-1ea6-4c69-a97c-36714ffc54f1